GAME STORY: 2019-20 Season - Hershey at Lehigh Valley 2/9/20

ALLENTOWN, PA -- The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (21-22-6) look to sweep the weekend when they conclude a 3-in-3 Sunday against Atlantic Division rival Hershey Bears (30-15-5).

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster Notes

Line rushes in warmup:

Andy Andreoff - Cal O'Reilly - Max Willman Maksim Sushko - Kyle Criscuolo - Chris Stewart Ratcliffe-Vorobyev-Kase Swavely-Fitzgerald-Gabriel

Tyler Wotherspoon - Reece Willcox Mark Friedman - Nate Prosser James de Haas - Andy Welinski

J-F Berube - Kirill Ustimenko

Phantoms scratches: Greg Carey, German Rubtsov, Carsen Twarynski, Chris Bigras, T.J. Brennan and Pascal Laberge

GAME STORY

1st Period

It was certainly not the start the Phantoms were hoping for Sunday against Hershey.

Matt Moulson was left alone at the back door and had an easy tap-in goal 1:09 into the contest to put Hershey ahead 1-0 early.

Then, after a Mikhail Vorobyev high-sticking minor on the following shift, Hershey converted on the power play to put the Phantoms in a 2-0 hole. Christian Djoos fed Garrett Pilon in the circle, and the Bears' forward sniped one past Phantoms' goalie J-F Berube 3:01 into the opening frame.

Lehigh Valley wasn't able to muster much offensively in the opening 20 minutes, registering six shots on net.

2nd Period

For as poor a start that the Phantoms had in the first frame, it was a total 180 for the two teams in the middle frame where Lehigh Valley controlled large portions of play and erased the 2-0 deficit after outshooting the Bears 12-5 in the period

The Phantoms answered back early in the middle frame, with Steven Swavely cutting Lehigh Valley's deficit in half with his first AHL goal of the season 2:56 into the period after Vorobyev created a turnover below the goal line and fed Swavely out in front.

It wasn't until the final four minutes of the period that Lehigh Valley was able to tie up the game, but it was after great work by Isaac Ratcliffe on the forecheck that the rookie forward was able to force a turnover and convert on his ensuing opportunity. It marked back-to-back games in which Ratcliffe has scored resulting from a successful forecheck.

3rd Period

Lehigh Valley came out like gangbusters to begin the final frame, firing seven of the period's first eight shots on net, but Bears' goalie Vitek Vanecek was equal to the task and prevented the Phantoms from ever getting a go-ahead goal.

Instead, it was Hershey breaking the 2-2 score near the midway mark of the period. With Nate Prosser in the box for tripping, the Bears' power play converted for a second time as Matt Moulson once again got open at the side of the net for his second tap-in goal of the afternoon.

After a neutral zone turnover, Hershey made it 4-2 with 5:53 left to end any hopes of a Phantoms' comeback Sunday evening.

The Bears added an empty net tally to complete the 5-2 final score.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

1:09: HER - Moulson (17) - Maillet, Snively 1:39: LV - (PP) Vorobyev, minor (high-sticking) 3:01: HER - PPG Pilon (14) - Djoos, Maillet 9:35: LV - (PP) Welinski, minor (holding) 10:17: HER - (PP) Nardella, minor (slashing)

2nd Period

2:56: LV - Swavely (1) - Vorobyev, Kase 3:41: LV - (PP) Gabriel, minor (slashing) 4:01: HER - (PP) Maillet, minor (slashing) 6:00: HER - (PP) O'Brien, minor (tripping) 16:46: LV - Ratcliffe (5) - unassisted 19:57: HER - (PP) Burgdoerfer, minor (tripping)

3rd Period

8:35: LV - (PP) Prosser, minor (tripping) 9:11: HER - PPG Moulson (18) - Nardella, Djoos 14:07: HER - Leason (2) - Sutter, Malenstyn 16:42: HER - (PP) Burgdoerfer, minor (tripping) 19:21: HER - ENG Pinho (14) - Maillet

BOXSCORE

Hershey  2 - 0 - 3 = 5 Lehigh Valley  0 - 2 - 0 = 2

Shots

Hershey  11 - 5 - 5 = 21 Lehigh Valley  6 - 12 - 15 = 33

Goalies

HER: Vitek Vanecek (31 saves - 33 shots) LV: J-F Berube (16 saves - 20 shots)

Power Play

HER: 2-for-4 LV: 0-for-5

Penalty Kill

HER: 5-for-5 LV: 2-for-4